The time of menopause is an unsettling period for women.  It not only produces physical discomfort, but emotional stress too, causing serious chaos in a woman’s life.

Luckily, today there are many ways to help alleviate those drastic symptoms and help women take control of their lives, and a very important one is related to the diet.  There are foods that contain rich quantities of the vitamins and minerals required to strengthen and protect the female organism.

Anxiety, tension, depression, headaches, hot flashes, night sweats, water retention, bloating, joint pain, low energy, and irritability, are just some of the classic symptoms women experience during menopause.  Vitamin B6 has been shown to ease many of these uncomfortable feelings, especially, Vitamin B6 combined with zinc, as it helps convert B6 into its active form in the body.  And what foods are rich in Vitamin B6?  Wheat and bran cereals, beans and lentils.

Magnesium and GLA are very helpful in reducing swelling, and offer other beneficial effects for the body.  These are essential for everyone, and even more for women going through menopause.

Hormone imbalances act over blood sugar control and produce sugar craving, which in turn produces tiredness and irritation.  It is important to maintain a low sugar diet; this means, no sodas, concentrated juices, sauces and lots of caffeine.

Calcium is also vital during this period.  It is normally taken in tablets, and to boost its effect, look for a combination of calcium and magnesium + Vitamin D, and take the tablets prior to going to sleep, while eating high protein foods like meat, eggs and beans.  It is important to make it a habit to consume high calcium foods like skim milk, dairy products and beans.

Finally, do not forget folic acid.  The benefits of taking between 40 to 60 mg a day are numerous.  And, for rich sources of folic acid, eat lots of oranges, spinach, leafy green vegetables, beans, and walnuts.

Of course, always remember to ask a professional about the best natural ways to diminish menopause symptoms; you could talk to a bioidentical hormone doctor and read lots of quality resources available today.  The most important thing is that you educate yourself to be aware of the best options to treat your body with respect and love.

If you liked this article, tell all your friends about it. They’ll thank you for it. If you have a blog or website, you can link to it or even post it to your own site (don’t forget to mention our Bio-Identical Hormone Therapy blog as the original source).

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One day, a couple had an appointment in Boston, MA.  While walking down the street, they saw this thin, fragile elderly woman on the corner.  She was very well dressed, her hair was done, and she was even wearing some makeup.

Supported on her cane, she was looking around kind of confused, and the couple was concerned as it was a very hot and humid day, so they approached her and the wife asked her if she needed help.  With a sweet smile on her face, she said she was looking for her dentist’s office, but was not sure she was going the right way.

She explained she suffered from glaucoma and could not see very well.  She mentioned the doctor’s address, and the couple assured her it was just on the other side of the street; they were more than happy to help her get there.  While they walked with her, she explained that although she was not blind, she could not see the curb clearly so she could trip and fall.

The couple guided her onto the sidewalk and she told them she could make it to the doctor’s office by herself, so they wished her the best and she started to go her way.  All of a sudden, she turned and started talking to them about her life and family.  She was 90 and her older sister was 95 and alive.  Even as the couple explained they were late for an appointment, the lady went on talking.  She talked about her late husband, osteoporosis and her son, who happens to be one of the best bioidentical hormone doctors in the city, among other things.  She was very excited to be talking to someone and didn’t want the conversation to end.

She was THAT lonely.  The couple really wanted to stay and listen to her for as long as she needed, but they had an important appointment and had to leave, so the conversation was finally ended in a clumsy way.

As they left her, they turned around to watch her struggling to get to the dentist’s office, and they wondered if the doctor son knew his mother was walking alone to go to the dentist in such a hot day.

Everything that happens to us has a meaning, and when you experience something like this encounter it makes you think.  Do we think enough about our parents?  Do we cherish what they did for us, how they sacrificed themselves and do we show them our deep love for them?  Are we able as kids and young adults to leave ourselves behind a little and think of others in a selfless way?

Some mothers, by being who they are, are able to motivate kids so much as to prompt them to help them and spare them some work, and some adults have been blessed with being able to give a lot to their parents, not just financially, but emotionally.  Even though, many elderly people are neglected and set aside; and the reason for this is that today’s society is not only up to its head in materialism and self-love, but has gotten used to disposing of the old.  Instead of fixing things, we throw them away and buy new ones, “better” ones, more modern ones; and we do the same with people.

The elderly are not getting any younger, so they have to be tossed out; and this is a shame.  There is so much an elderly person can offer; so much wisdom, purity of thought and peace.

We are all headed that way, and although there are many ways to enhance life quality today- like the one provided by the sweet lady’s doctor son- and enjoy great health for much longer years, everyone will eventually get there, and one can only hope we will be holding a loved one’s arm instead of a cane while walking down the street to visit the doctor.

If you liked this article, tell all your friends about it. They’ll thank you for it. If you have a blog or website, you can link to it or even post it to your own site (don’t forget to mention our Bio-Identical Hormone Therapy blog as the original source).

The Last Period. Period.
I bet you $1,000 you don’t know what menopause is.

No, really.

You read a lot about menopause and perimenopause, sure; and probably began experiencing symptoms several months ago. And no doubt you talked a lot with other women, and got a hint about a certain bioidentical hormone doctor in Aspen or whatever out there (“a bio what??”). Yet, I still believe you don’t know the meaning of the term menopause and that nobody ever explained to you why your clothes seem to shrink in the wardrobe.

Menopause IS NOT:

•    the stage following your last period
•    a condition after a whole year without menstruation
•    a hormone deficiency
•    a period characterized by hot flashes and mood swings

So, what is menopause? Give up?

From Menarche to “Flasharche”
Menopause is a woman’s last period. Period.

On average, this occurs when a woman celebrates her 51st birthday. However, to determine when the menopause happened, she has to experience no periods during 12 consecutive months. In other words, she realizes she had her menopause a year later.

The word has a Greek origin (menos, month; pausis, cessation) by contrast to the first menstruation, the menarche (also from Greek: arkhe, beginning).

Many changes happen in the body around the crucial day of the last period. Essentially, your body considers that your reproductive days are no longer necessary but fat is welcome.

One or two years before such day, your body enters the perimenopause stage (peri, prefix for about, around or surrounding), also known as the climacteric phase. That’s when hot flashes begin.

Then, a year after the menopause day, you enter the post-menopause phase—those who say there’s no such a state as a post-menopause are, from an etymological viewpoint, wrong—. Since menopause refers to a specific day not a prolonged condition, a post-menopause time obviously follows.

From Flashes to Fat
Fat cells produce and store a hormone, estrone, a form of estrogen. The ovaries produce another variety of estrogen, estradiol. This hormone decreases at a dramatic rate around menopause, because the ovaries ignore another hormone that carries orders to produce estradiol. Hormones serve as mailmen, and affect almost every cell in the body when delivering or failing to deliver the information.

Some organs, however, are more receptive than others to certain hormones, much in the same way as your ears perceive sounds but ignore smells. When the ovaries stop obeying orders, your body cells crave estrogen. And where can they find it? Fat cells, of course! Your belly and hips stored another kind of estrogen, but estrogen at least.

To state it in other words, let’s say that your body needs fat now. Thus, you feel hungry; ergo, you eat. The larger the fat cells, the more estrogen they can produce and store.

To Lose Weight, Eat more often
If you wish to prevent weight gain, eat more often. Yes, more often. Eat small meals and give the body what it needs: milk, cereals, fruits and vegetables. At all costs, avoid dieting or starving; your body will react to protect its fat cells to put a stop to estrogen decreases… storing more fat.

If you liked this article, tell all your friends about it. They’ll thank you for it. If you have a blog or website, you can link to it or even post it to your own site (don’t forget to mention our Bio-Identical Hormone Therapy blog as the original source).